In my prior patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,666, I disclosed a manual percussive welding apparatus of the type commonly known as a fusion welder which utilized a spring-loaded electrode that could be manually released to engage a fixed electrode and discharge a charged capacitor. This type of welding is particularly useful in the jewelry industry or in the electronics industry where small objects are required to be welded and where it is desirable to minimize flash. For example, one of the more common welding procedures is to weld an earring post to the main body of the earring by the utilization of a hollow chuck that would hold the stud. One of the difficulties that has been noted in use of the apparatus as disclosed in my prior patent has been in attempting to adjust the distances between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode to accept various types of parts. The instant invention overcomes this problem and provides an improved operation of the welding apparatus of my previous patent.